Job 41:7-17

7 Will its hide be hurt by spears or its head by a harpoon?

8 If you lay a hand on it, you will certainly remember the battle that follows. You won’t try that again!

9 No, it is useless to try to capture it. The hunter who attempts it will be knocked down.

10 And since no one dares to disturb it, who then can stand up to me?

11 Who has given me anything that I need to pay back? Everything under heaven is mine.

12 “I want to emphasize Leviathan’s limbs and its enormous strength and graceful form.

13 Who can strip off its hide, and who can penetrate its double layer of armor?

14 Who could pry open its jaws? For its teeth are terrible!

15 The scales on its back are like rows of shields tightly sealed together.

16 They are so close together that no air can get between them.

17 Each scale sticks tight to the next. They interlock and cannot be penetrated.

Job 41:7-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 41

A large description is here given of the leviathan, from the difficulty and danger of taking it, from whence it is inferred that none can stand before God, Job 41:1-10; from the several parts of him, his face, teeth, scales, eyes, mouth and neck, flesh and heart, Job 41:11-24; and from various wonderful terrible things said of him, and ascribed to him, Job 41:25-34.

Footnotes

• [a]. Verses 41:9-34 are numbered 41:1-26 in Hebrew text.
• [b]. As in Greek version; Hebrew reads its bridle?
• [c]. As in some Greek manuscripts and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew reads Its pride is in its.